MARCH 25, 2002

German government will not help Kirch

THE German government is not likely to help the Kirch empire if it does run into terminal trouble in the next few weeks. Although the Germans are confident that the company can be saved with the banks coming in to prop up the business, there are still fears that the company could crash and judging by the German government's attitude towards the construction giant Philipp Holzmann, there is not likely to be a rescue package for Kirch.

Holzmann filed for insolvency on Thursday, becoming Germany's biggest ever corporate failure. Holzmann was saved from bankruptcy three years ago with a $1.9bn package put together by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The collapse is bad news for Schroeder as he faces an election in the autumn and Germany's unemployment figures are rising.